Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Comedy
| Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Comedy | |
|---|---|
| Description | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Writers Guild of America |
| First awarded | 1960 |
| Currently held by | Robert Carlock Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2016) |
| Website | http://www.wga.org/ |
The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Comedy is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the best written comedy episodes of television series. It was first presented at the 13th annual Writers Guild of America awards in 1961 and has been presented annually since the 17th annual Writers Guild of America awards in 1965.
The years denote when the episode first aired. Though, due to the eligibility period, some nominees could have aired in a different year. The current eligibility period is December 1 to November 30. The winners are highlighted in gold.
1960s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Father Knows Best | "Margaret's Old Flame" | Dorothy Cooper | CBS |
| The Danny Thomas Show | "Linda Wants to Be a Boy" | Charles Stewart & Jack Elinson | CBS | |
| My Three Sons | "Chip off the Old Block" | George Tibbles | ABC | |
| 1964 | The Andy Griffith Show | "The Shoplifters" | Bill Idelson & Sam Bobrick | CBS |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "My Husband is the Best One" | Martin Ragaway | ||
| The Danny Thomas Show | "Bowling Partners" | Jerry Belson & Garry Marshall | CBS | |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "October Eve" | Bill Persky & Sam Denoff | ||
| "Turtles, Ties and Toreadors" | John Whedon | |||
| 1965 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | "Br-room, Br-room" | Dale McRaven & Carl Kleinschmitt | CBS |
| The Beverly Hillbillies | "Dash Riprock, You Cad" | Paul Henning & Mark Tuttle | ABC | |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "4½" | Garry Marshall & Jerry Belson | CBS | |
| "Romances, Roses and Rye Bread" | Garry Marshall & Jerry Belson | |||
| Dr. Kildare | "Maybe Love Will Save My Apartment House" | Boris Sobelman | NBC | |
| 1966 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | "You Ought to Be in Pictures" | Jack Winter | CBS |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "Go Tell the Birds and the Bees" | Rick Mittleman | CBS | |
| Gidget | "The Great Kahuna" | Albert Mannheimer & Frederick Kohner | ABC | |
| Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | "Opie Joins the Marines" | Aaron Ruben | CBS | |
| 1967 | The Jackie Gleason Show | "Movies are Better than Ever" | Marvin Marx, Walter Stone, Rod Parker | CBS |
| Get Smart | "Bronzefinger" | Lila Garrett & Bernie Kahn | NBC | |
| "Where-What-Who Am I?" | Barry Blitzer & Raymond Brenner | |||
| That Girl | "Rain, Snow and Rice" | James L. Brooks | ABC | |
| 1968 | Get Smart | "Viva Smart" | Bill Idelson & Sam Bobrick | NBC |
| He & She | "Before You Bury Me, Can I Say Something?" | James Parker & Arnold Margolin | CBS | |
| "Knock, Knock...Who's There? Fernando!...Fernando Who?" | Chris Hayward & Allan Burns | |||
| "The Old Man and the She" | Leonard Stern & Arne Sultan | |||
| 1969 | Room 222 | "Funny Boy" | Allan Burns | ABC |
| The Bill Cosby Show | "Growing, Growing, Grown" | Kenny Solms & Gail Parent | NBC | |
| Get Smart | "The Apes of Wrath" | Lloyd Turner & Gordon Mitchell | CBS | |
| "Ice Station Siegfried" | Arne Sultan & Chris Hayward | |||
| The Jackie Gleason Show | "Play it Again, Norton" | Walter Stone & Rod Parker & Robert Hilliard | ||
| My World and Welcome to It | "Little Girls are Sugar & Spice, and Not Always Nice!" | Rick Mittleman | NBC | |
1970s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Room 222 | "The Valedictorian" | Richard DeRoy | ABC |
| The Governor & J.J. | "Check the Check" | Arne Sultan & Earl Barret | CBS | |
| My World and Welcome to It | "The Fourth Estate" | Lila Garrett & Bernie Kahn | NBC | |
| Room 222 | "Funny Money" | Steve Pritzker | ABC | |
| 1971 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "Thoroughly Unmilitant Mary" | Martin Cohan | CBS |
| All in the Family | "Christmas at the Bunkers" | Don Nicholl | CBS | |
| "Edith's Accident" | Michael Ross, Bernie West, Tom August, Helen August | |||
| "Gloria has a Belly Full" | Jerry Mayer | |||
| "Mike's Problem" | Alan J. Levitt & Phil Mishkin | |||
| "Oh, My Aching Back" | Stanley Ralph Ross | |||
| 1972 | M*A*S*H | "Chief Surgeon Who?" | Larry Gelbart | CBS |
| All in the Family | "Edith's Problem" | Burt Styler & Steve Zacharias | CBS | |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "The Good-Time News" | Allan Burns & James L. Brooks | CBS | |
| Maude | "Flashback" | Alan J. Levitt | ||
| The Odd Couple | "The Pen is Mightier Than the Pencil" | Jack Winter | ABC | |
| 1973 | Maude | "Walter's Problem" | Robert Weiskopf & Robert Schiller | CBS |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "The Lars Affair" | Ed. Weinberger | CBS | |
| M*A*S*H | "Carry On, Hawkeye" | Larry Gelbart, Laurence Marks and Bernard Dilbert | ||
| "The Incubator" | Larry Gelbart & Laurence Marks | |||
| "Radar's Report" | Laurence Marks & Sheldon Keller | |||
| "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" | Carl Kleinschmitt | |||
| "Tuttle" | Bruce Shelly & David Ketchum | |||
| 1974 | M*A*S*H | "O.R." | Larry Gelbart & Laurence Marks | CBS |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" | Ed. Weinberger & Stan Daniels | CBS | |
| M*A*S*H | "Private Charles Lamb" | Sid Dorfman | ||
| Rhoda | "Parents' Day" | Charlotte Brown | ||
| "You Can Go Home Again" | Pat Nardo & Gloria Banta | |||
| 1975 | M*A*S*H | "Welcome to Korea" | Everett Greenbaum, Jim Fritzell, and Larry Gelbart | CBS |
| All in the Family | "Archie the Hero" | Lou Derman & Bill Davenport | CBS | |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "Chuckles Bites the Dust" | David Lloyd | ||
| "Edie Gets Married" | Bob Ellison | |||
| M*A*S*H | "Big Mac" | Laurence Marks | ||
| Rhoda | "Ida's Doctor" | Coleman Mitchell & Geoffrey Neigher | ||
| 1976 | M*A*S*H | "Dear Sigmund" | Alan Alda | CBS |
| All in the Family | "Joey's Baptism" | Mel Tolkin, Larry Rhine and Milt Josefsberg | CBS | |
| Barney Miller | "The Evacuation" | Chris Hayward & Danny Arnold | ABC | |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "Mary's Insomnia" | David Lloyd | CBS | |
| "My Son, the Genius" | Bob Ellison | |||
| M*A*S*H | "Hawkeye, Get Your Gun" | Gene Reynolds & Jay Folb | ||
| 1977 | All in the Family | "Archie Get the Business" | Larry Rhine & Mel Tolkin | CBS |
| All in the Family | "The Joys of Sex" | Erik Tarloff | CBS | |
| Barney Miller | "Copy Cat" | Douglas Wyman & Tony Sheehan | ABC | |
| "Goodbye, Mr. Fish", Part 2 | Reinhold Weege | |||
| The Bob Newhart Show | "A Girl in Her Twenties" | Laura Levine | CBS | |
| "A Jackie Story" | Lloyd Garver | |||
| The Jeffersons | "Once a Friend" | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | ||
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "The Critic" | David Lloyd | ||
| "The Last Show" | James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Ed. Weinberger, Stan Daniels, David Lloyd, Bob Ellison | |||
| M*A*S*H | "Fade Out, Fade In" | Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum | ||
| 1978 | M*A*S*H | "Baby, It's Cold Outside" | Gary David Goldberg | CBS |
| All in the Family | "California, Here We Are" | Milt Josefsberg, Phil Sharp, Robert Schiller, Robert Weiskopf | CBS | |
| Barney Miller | "The Ghost" | Reinhold Weege | ABC | |
| M*A*S*H | "Point of View" | Ken Levine, & David Isaacs | CBS | |
| Mork & Mindy | "Pilot" | Dale McRaven | ABC | |
| Rhoda | "Rhoda vs. Ida" | Bob Ellison | CBS | |
| Taxi | "Blind Date" | Michael Leeson | ABC | |
| "Memories of Cab 804" | Barry Kemp | |||
| 1979 | M*A*S*H | "Are You Now, Margaret?" | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | CBS |
| Taxi | "The Reluctant Father" | Ken Estin | ABC | |
| Barney Miller | "The Indian" | Judith Anne Nielsen, Richard William Beban, Reinhold Weege | ABC | |
| M*A*S*H | "Goodbye, Radar" | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | CBS | |
| "Period of Adjustment" | Jim Mulligan & John Rappaport | |||
| "The Young and the Restless" | Mitch Markowitz | |||
| Mork & Mindy | "Dr. Morkenstein" | Bruce Kalish & Philip John Taylor | ABC | |
| "Mork's Mixed Emotions" | Tom Tenowich, & Ed Scharlach | |||
| Taxi | "Elaine's Secret Admirer" | Barry Kemp | ||
| "Honor Thy Father" | Glen Charles & Les Charles |
1980s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | M*A*S*H | "Heal Thyself" | Dennis Koenig, Gene Reynolds | CBS |
| The Associates | "The Censors" | Stan Daniels, & Ed. Weinberger | ABC | |
| Barney Miller | "The Child Stealers" | Frank Dungan & Jeff Stein | ||
| M*A*S*H | "Bottle Fatigue" | Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox | CBS | |
| "Morale Victory" | John Rappaport | |||
| Taxi | "Alex Jumps Out of an Airplane" | Ken Estin | ABC | |
| "Art Work" | Glen Charles & Les Charles | |||
| United States | "Sometimes" | Larry Gelbart & Everett Greenbaum | NBC | |
| 1981 | Barney Miller | "Stormy Weather" | Nat Mauldin | ABC |
| Barney Miller | "Field Associate" | Jordan Moffet | ABC | |
| The Greatest American Hero | "Pilot" | Stephen J. Cannell | ||
| M*A*S*H | "No Sweat" | John Rappaport | CBS | |
| "A War for All Seasons" | Dan Wilcox & Thad Mumford | |||
| Park Place | "Crazy Judge" | Reinhold Weege | ||
| Taxi | "The Boss' Wife" | Ken Estin | ABC | |
| "Tony's Sister and Jim" | Michael Leeson | |||
| 1982 | Barney Miller | "Hunger Strike" | Tony Sheehan, & Stephen Neigher | ABC |
| Best of the West | "The Calico Kid Returns" | Mitch Markowitz | ABC | |
| M*A*S*H | "The Birthday Girls" | Karen Hall | CBS | |
| Making the Grade | "Pilot" | Gary David Goldberg | ||
| Open All Night | "Terry Runs Away" | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | ABC | |
| Taxi | "Elegant Iggy" | Ken Estin | ||
| 1983 | Cheers | "The Boys in the Bar" | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | NBC |
| "Give Me a Ring Sometime" | Glen Charles & Les Charles | |||
| Cheers | "Let Me Count the Ways" | Heide Perlman | NBC | |
| "The Spy Who Came in for a Cold One" | David Lloyd | |||
| M*A*S*H | "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" | Alan Alda, Burt Metcalfe, John Rappaport, Dan Wilcox, Thad Mumford, Elias Davis, David Pollock, and Karen Hall |
CBS | |
| Taxi | "Jim's Inheritance" | Ken Estin | NBC | |
| "Scenskees from a Marriage" | Howard Gewirtz & Ian Praiser | |||
| 1984 | Cheers | "Sumner's Return" | Michael J. Weithorn | NBC |
| AfterM*A*S*H | "Night Shift" | Everett Greenbaum & Elliott Reid | CBS | |
| Cheers | "Affairs of the Heart" | Heide Perlman | NBC | |
| "Old Flames" | David Angell | |||
| The Duck Factory | "Goodbye Buddy, Hello Skip" | Allan Burns | ||
| Family Ties | "Not an Affair to Remember" | Gary David Goldberg & Ruth Bennett | ||
| Night Court | "Once in Love with Harry" | Reinhold Weege | ||
| Too Close for Comfort | "Ship Mates" | Arne Sultan & Earl Barret | ABC | |
| 1985 | Moonlighting | "Pilot" | Glenn Gordon Caron | ABC |
| Steambath | "Madison Avenue Madness" | David Pollock & Elias Davis | Showtime | |
| Cheers | "The Executive's Executioner" | Heide Perlman | NBC | |
| "Fairy Tales Can Come True" | Sam Simon | |||
| The Cosby Show | "Good-Bye Mr. Fish" | Earl Pomerantz | ||
| Webster | "The Uh-Oh Feeling" | Steven Sunshine & Madeline Sunshine | ABC | |
| 1986 | Kate & Allie | "Allie's Affair" | Bob Randall | CBS |
| All Is Forgiven | "I Can't Say No" | Ian Praiser & Howard Gewirtz | NBC | |
| The Cosby Show | "Theo's Holiday" | John Markus, Carmen Finestra & Matt Williams | ||
| The Golden Girls | "Rose's Mother" | James Berg, & Stan Zimmerman | ||
| Night Court | "Best of Friends" | Howard Ostroff | ||
| 1987 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | "Here's Why Cosmetics Should Come in Unbreakable Bottles" | Jay Tarses | NBC |
| Family Ties | "A, My Name is Alex" | Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger | ||
| The Golden Girls | "Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas" | Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan | ||
| Cheers | "Never Love a Goalie" (Part I) | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | NBC | |
| Family Ties | "My Back Pages" | Ruth Bennett | ||
| The Golden Girls | "A Piece of Cake" | Kathy Speer, Terry Grossman, Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro | ||
| Night Court | "Contempt of Courting" | Tom Straw | ||
| 1988 | The Wonder Years | "My Father's Office" | Carol Black & Neal Marlens | ABC |
| Family Ties | "The Way We Were" | Gary David Goldberg | NBC | |
| The Golden Girls | "Old Friends" | Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman | ||
| Night Court | "No Hard Feelings" | Tom Straw | ||
| The Slap Maxwell Story | "Pilot" | Jay Tarses | ABC | |
| The Wonder Years | "Pilot" | Neal Marlens & Carol Black | ||
| 1989 | The Wonder Years | "Coda" | Todd W. Langen | ABC |
| Cheers | "Jumping Jerks" | Ken Levine, & David Isaacs | NBC | |
| "Please, Mr. Postman" | Brian Pollack & Mert Rich | |||
| The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | "Here's Why You Order From the Spanish Side of the Menu" | Eric Overmyer | Lifetime | |
| Murphy Brown | "Respect" | Diane English | CBS | |
| The Wonder Years | "Pottery Will Get You Nowhere" | Matthew Carlson | ABC |
1990s
| Year | Show | Episode | Writer(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Murphy Brown | "Brown Like Me" | Diane English | CBS |
| Designing Women | "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century" | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason | CBS | |
| Seinfeld | "The Stake Out" | Larry David &Jerry Seinfeld | NBC | |
| The Wonder Years | "Good-bye" | Bob Brush | ABC | |
| "The Powers That Be" | David M. Stern | |||
| "Rock 'N' Roll" | Bob Stevens | |||
| 1991 | Cheers | "Rat Girl" | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | NBC |
| Coach | "Christmas Brains" | John Peaslee & Judd Pillott | ABC | |
| The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | "Here's a Little Touch of Harry in the Night" | Jay Tarses | Lifetime | |
| Evening Shade | "A Day in the Life of Wood Newton" | Linda Bloodworth-Thomason | CBS | |
| The Golden Girls | "Ebbtide's Revenge" | Marc Sotkin | NBC | |
| 1992 | Murphy Brown | "Uh-Oh", Part 2 | Korby Siamis & Diane English | CBS |
| Brooklyn Bridge | "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" | Gary David Goldberg | CBS | |
| Seinfeld | "The Boyfriend" | Larry David & Larry Levin | NBC | |
| "The Parking Space" | Larry David & Greg Daniels | |||
| "The Stranded" | Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, and Matt Goldman | |||
| 1993 | Seinfeld | "The Contest" | Larry David | NBC |
| Roseanne | "The Dark Ages" | Eric Gilliland & Mike Gandolfi | ABC | |
| "Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home" | Amy Sherman | |||
| Seinfeld | "The Outing" | Larry Charles | NBC | |
| 1994 | Seinfeld | "The Mango" | Lawrence H. Levy & Larry David | NBC |
| Frasier | "A Midwinter Night's Dream" | Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano | NBC | |
| Roseanne | "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" | James Berg, Stan Zimmerman, and Michael Borkow | ABC | |
| "A Stash from the Past" | Kevin Abbott | |||
| Seinfeld | "The Hamptons" | Peter Mehlman & Carol Leifer | NBC | |
| 1995 | Frasier | "The Matchmaker" | Joe Keenan | NBC |
| Frasier | "The Club" | Elias Davis & David Pollock | NBC | |
| Friends | "The One Where Underdog Gets Away" | Jeff Greenstein & Jeff Strauss | ||
| The Larry Sanders Show | "Arthur After Hours" | Peter Tolan | HBO | |
| "Hank's New Assistant" | John Riggi | |||
| "Roseanne's Return" | Maya Forbes, Steven Levitan, and Garry Shandling | |||
| Mad About You | "Our Fifteen Minutes" | Jack Burditt | NBC | |
| "The Ride Home" | Liz Coe | |||
| 1996 | Seinfeld | "The Pool Guy" | David H. Mandel | NBC |
| The Larry Sanders Show | "Eight" | Peter Tolan | HBO | |
| Seinfeld | "The Soup Nazi" | Spike Feresten | NBC | |
| "The Sponge" | Peter Mehlman | |||
| 1997 | Seinfeld | "The Fatigues" | Greg Kavet & Andy Robin | NBC |
| Ellen | "The Puppy Episode" | Mark Driscoll, Dava Savel, Tracy Newman, Jonathan Stark, and Ellen DeGeneres |
ABC | |
| Frasier | "The Impossible Dream" | Rob Greenberg | NBC | |
| The Larry Sanders Show | "The Book" | Maya Forbes | HBO | |
| "Ellen, or Isn't She?" | Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow, and John Markus | |||
| Seinfeld | "The Bizarro Jerry" | David H. Mandel | NBC | |
| "The Chicken Roaster" | Alec Berg & Jeff Schaffer | |||
| 1998 | Frasier | "Frasier's Imaginary Friend" | Rob Greenberg | NBC |
| Dharma & Greg | "Pilot" | Dottie Dartland & Chuck Lorre | ABC | |
| Ellen | "Emma" | Lawrence Broch | ||
| Murphy Brown | "Never Can Say Goodbye" | Diane English | CBS | |
| 1999 | Frasier | "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" | Jay Kogen | NBC |
| Dharma & Greg | "The Paper Hat Anniversary" | Bill Prady, Eric Zicklin, and Chuck Lorre | ABC | |
| Friends | "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" | Alexa Junge | NBC | |
| Sex and the City | "Evolution" | Cindy Chupack | HBO | |
| "Four Women and a Funeral" | Jenny Bicks |
2000s
2010s
Total awards
- NBC – 25
- CBS – 20
- ABC – 11
- Fox – 2
- Showtime – 2
- HBO – 1
- FX – 1
Programs with multiple awards
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Programs with multiple nominations
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Footnotes
- ^ Cheers double win in 1983 is counted as only one win.